the countdown over the next winter olympics begins is exactly one year until russia hosts its first ever winter games that promises to become of the most unique and the most expensive in history. but not all officials are in a celebratory mood russia's president lashes out at overspending and sacks a key figure behind sochi two thousand and fourteen. and u.s. senate hearings get under way for president obama's controversial pick to be the next new chief of the cia already the sessions have been interrupted due to protests by activists who are furious that the man behind america's infamous drone

program could be to become the head of the agency. plus the turmoil in tunisia intensifies fresh clashes between anti-government protesters and police are accompanied by political chaos with the ruling islam is defying the prime minister's decision to reshuffle the government. thanks for tuning in world news live from our moscow headquarters i'm lucy catherine of and of course you're watching our team well on to our top story it's now exactly one year until the opening of the twenty fourteen winter olympic games right here in russia a special giant clocks have been installed in the country's largest cities and they've begun the countdown for the event which will be held in the black sea

resort city of sochi now of course when we're talking about sochi the main celebrations to mark the countdown have taken place in the city itself now rounding off with a spectacular gala show as you can see in the screen there behind me really exciting images there now our team is andrew farmer is actually in the city of for us to see how the preparations for the games have been going and to gauge the mood on the grounds let's take a look. but if she can save you the spirit has what intrigues some cheap food which launched the city sky to see particularly if it was a spectacular skating show but it's not going. to be beach going to the deep stuff in the east time for several reasons in the city they could be the first ones with an exceptional bloom bar this is the pecan caves in plain sight of the city he's going to be very compact you will be able to just jump into trying within thirty

minutes you count in the mind of my piano to enjoy the finer things secondly most of the fees are being billed to spread sheets something very unusual i'm not privy to the street company's going to play nice expensive in the street to get something cheap billion dollars but if you do look around you can see what money can buy the organizing committee says look so cheap we'll be ready in twenty. and a farmer enjoying the fireworks they're down meanwhile russian president vladimir putin has been personally checking the olympic venues and says that he's generally happy with what he saw he didn't ever fire one top official over delays and cost overruns and construction work following this rather well abrupt conversation let's take a look. in your view are there any cost overruns and yes a serious increase in costs but since they use their own funds for the construes own funds. it's financed by the funds of president pollyanna who's the shareholder

of course upon your spare ventures so it's largely financed by the states bank yes that's the bank pays for these cost overruns yes it spending one of the costs of this whole facility costing what's the overall cost the villagers were initially we were assessing the amount of the loan. what's a rough estimate. this initial price was one point two billion now it's a billion one point two billion has turned into eight billion yes well done good work let's move on to. some of his usual sarcasm from vladimir putin there which of course as we reported didn't go without some consequences for at least one official now we here at r t well we'll of course be monitoring the developments in sochi for you as a prepares for one of the world's biggest and most prestigious sporting events stay with us.

well from drone strikes to torture techniques tough questions are ahead for barack obama's nominee for the cia head and his confirmation hearing in the senate which has actually just gotten underway john brennan is widely seen as the architect of the u.s. drone strategy now in an effort to avoid scrutiny around brennan's cabinet as the the u.s. president has even agreed to hand over classified documents justifying the killing of american terror suspects abroad now that's after years of keeping it a secret and our team is going to education reports of brennan's confirmation my broaden the horizons for america's drone fleets take a look. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream drone makers in the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled

remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability in their revolutionizing were. bio allowing us to see and choose from half a world away a major drone manufacturer lockheed martin has financed an hour long documentary on drones aired recently on u.s. public television counting the technological capabilities of the killing machine from trailers like this pilots of the predator and its larger cousin the reaper have killed thousands of individual since two thousand and one using remotely piloted aircraft contrary to popular belief actually provides the greatest degree of ethical oversight for their use and this young man in pakistan would probably disagree several of his family members died at the remote hands of a drone more than a thousand other civilians were reportedly killed by u.s. drone strikes in pakistan and yemen we find ourselves murdering people in many

cases children with no evidence whatsoever that they're involved in any criminal or terrorist activity the numbers should know. come as a surprise considering the broad definition the obama administration gives this to who should be on their kill list the leaked memo on targeted assassinations on the u.s. justice department suggests the u.s. government can kill people even without evidence that they are actively plotting against america if you extend the logic or studio logic being proud by the white house now where you come. live a few might say that we're in danger of going over we're getting very close to of thought crimes that if somebody a u.s. citizen or otherwise is believed to be thinking something that could lead to actions against the united states then this illogical logic would present the idea that it would be ok for the president to order that that person be killed despite

the u.n. raising concerns about the legality of the use of drones the u.s. has said to expand its remote control warfare setting up new drone bases across the world drama has redefined war during intervention in libya he never made the case that the war powers act in a pride because there was no risk to american soldiers and so under that rationale he can expand the global war while in his state of the union address claiming that we don't need perpetual war for peace but it is perpetual war when you can drop bombs on any country and then claim that it's not worth it john brennan often referred to as the architect of the administration's drone war how it's the new opportunities for the u.s. to wage wars without risking american lives there's another reason a targeted strikes can be a wise choice to strategic consequences that inevitably come with the use of force . as we have seen deploying large armies abroad won't always be our best offense all in all the u.s. now has around ten thousand drones in its fleet not all of them carry weapons of

course a lot of them are for surveillance both domestic and international there's a great push both from the administration and the drone makers to. present them as america's next best thing john brennan if confirmed will soon be at the helm of the cia and no one doubts that under him the program will expand even further in washington i'm going to take on. all the hearings are presently underway again after they were disrupted by protesters who were angry at john brennan's role in america's drone program those protesters were thrown out of the session now brennan has already testified the u.s. only uses drones as a last resort to save lives he's also said the drone policy is misunderstood and that the public doesn't understand the government goes through agony to avoid civilian deaths well for what that means let's turn now to an anti-war activist and writer. joining us live from los angeles thanks so much for being on the program

now as you heard there at the white house the white house is arguing that the drone strikes inflict less collateral damage than other means of warfare i mean don't they have a point there. no they don't have a point. for one reason there's a piece of million casualties. and there are civilian casualties are a spark out there the number of attacks in secret and even if it is the countless even count casualties the definition of what constitutes a militant basically anyone over the age of each of them. in a strike zone person sixteen in the streets constitutes not said so i could be going to school somewhere in yemen you know going on a high day ever get liberated by one of the drone strikes. have to consider nothing. so they go in that does not have any credibility

whatsoever when they say you know it's the last pull out of damage because that is an issue the law constitutes a score of damage ellipsis i mean. it doesn't as well what would i would do sort of want to get at here i mean we already see the obama administration going full steam ahead with this drone policy and it's not likely to change of course with brennan at the helm what do you think are the implications if brennan is in fact approved to head the cia. well the thing is though that if the cia's job is to make the united states even more are even less if the cia's job is to explore violence and death and destruction in the swarm of countries the cia's job is to create even more terrorists. through through the use of these drone strikes then john brennan is the perfect guy to head the cia

you know what the. other guy to to to to credit and this is usually this responsible for so much destruction and violence and a war criminal. but at the same time i sort of want to push back on a point were raised in the earlier question i mean when it when if you're in one of these countries how much more overwhelming is it to see an entire battalion of american troops and boots on the ground i mean in some ways isn't there the argument that drone strikes are sort of more humane the oh no it's still it's still a long distance murder you know i mean sixty years ago the united states dropped to the news on hiroshima and nagasaki and incinerated hundreds of thousands of civilians doesn't make it doesn't make it he me this is this is the longest and murder whether by any means or sniper or drones or hellfire missile

a car you know it's not humane you still killing innocent people in this same word are saying it's utterly a specific striking we know for sure who are killing this is a little cool. but certainly a strong words there but it is interesting to see that lawmakers are now finally after all these years asking some maybe not tough but at least asking some questions about that program. war at iraq war veteran activist and writer thank you so much for taking the time to teach us. so. well in tunisia anti-government protests are increasingly turning into violent clashes with police in the capital security forces used tear gas to disperse crowds of the interior ministry meanwhile the political crisis in the country is deepening with the ruling is the must party rejecting the prime minister's call to dissolve the government and form an interim cabinet in a wake of the assassination of. a secular opposition leader of archies maria for an

ocean has the latest from tunis. the day after the assassination of the prominent opposition leader here in the tunisian capital it seems the temperatures are still very high and tensions are still at a very dangerous the very risky level the level that is threatening and challenging the security instability in this country treasures have been continuing throughout thursday we've seen many many people on the streets and we've been hearing them chanting and to governmental slogans and i've been many clashes between police and opposition supporters today again and again police has been using tear gas against protesters but not only the clashes between protesters and. opposition supporters have been going on here in division capital my crew and me we've been attacked today here actually by a group of youngsters with and the only reason for that because it was just because we filmed them and they have been field and i think that tells

a lot about how is the situation on the ground that it could be described as something very close to chaotic we've been hearing about similar violence and similar disturbances and throughout the country especially in the southern part of tunisia where the headquarters of the ruling party has been vandalized people are saying that friday will be even worse on friday they say the protest may go if one more violent intentions may go even further because friday will be the day of the funerals of the opposition leader also we've been hearing that the country's trade union has been calling on nash and wide strike on friday that means that the country could be paralyzed i've heard from texas driving today that no one will do work it's course it will only a great the things. that we're always here eager to hear your personal views and stories that we cover here at our team go over to our website our team dot com you

can check out our online poll that asks you what. you think the outcome of the latest bout of tunisian and rest will be now if you go to that website we have several options for you for you to choose from including for example. i don't in fact actually it would start to break down the results for those of you who have voted now the majority of those of you who have cast her ballot say that tunisia will in fact plunge into further unrest you can see the majority of the blue there more than a quarter of you fear the latest upsurge of public unrest could lead to a government crackdown on protesters now nineteen percent of you think that this would result in a push for a new revolution and almost as many think that the leadership is in fact ready for political concessions will only time will tell but there's still plenty of time for you to cast your ballot so logon to r.t. dot com and cast your vote more stories for you after a short break stay with us. technology

innovations and the developments around. the future are heard. it also gives you a story and it seems so far away you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm sorry is a big. little. you.

welcome back you're watching r t with me lucy catherine of going to be a battle between the north and the south and the e.u. meeting in brussels states are on a collision course over spending plans for the next few years now britain is the loudest voice among those calling for a budget cut something fiercely opposed by a southern country is heavily dependent on the funds. are similar reports from brussels. we've seen some of the leaders who had arrived here already making strong statements first of all david cameron continuously saying that if the budget is not brought down to a level that he is happy with there will be no deal we've heard from countries who

are saying that they may use their veto if they are not happy such as the czech republic to simplify the vickery going on right now it would be between the northern and southern countries you could say the wealthier nations versus those that actually depend more on the e.u. funding on the one hand you have countries like the u.k. germany the netherlands denmark these countries are supporting harsher cuts to the e.u. budget david cameron being the most radical and controversial taking this step now he has been demanding since november last year in two thousand and twelve that was the first today is the second try and since that until now he's been demanding for cuts in brussels bureaucracy for instance he wants to reduce payments of officials here and this has not gone down well with brussels officials he also wants to reduce their pensions for instance but on the other side you have those countries who are dependent on these forums and one of the loudest voices on this is a lot of friends now he is saying and pointing a finger at the u.k. say they want cuts but at the same time they are very protective of the so-called

rebate this is the money that the u.k. gets back from the e.u. as a return for their payments on farm subsidies which the u.k. does not benefit from and which france benefits a lot from you can see a lot of the national interests coming here to the forefront certainly not happy with what if you read between the lines would say you hypocritical taken by the u.k. and that rebate is worth three point five billion euros and first of all it is seen to be wanted to tackle that point also the u.k. is coming into this summit this is the first time since he had announced that out referendum that he said that he would pose the question of whether he should remain in the e.u. twenty seven reelected in the twenty fifth. of course this is a possibility of a creating even more tension in the u.k. with the cost benefit of actually being a member of the e.u. interpreted by the other members as not being a team player in this regard and also as this talk is happening talking about

budget cuts on the e.u. level we see the budget cuts on a more local ground level we've seen the protests continuing even until today people very angry at the cuts imposed on them on their livelihoods of their pensions on their potential jobs while the e.u. cannot agree upon a budget of their own. and while the e.u. leaders are fighting over where to cut there's one item that's apparently immune from any austerity measures the e.u. is reportedly planning to spend over three million dollars to wage a so-called propaganda blitz on its critics in a social press now national for raj from the u.k. independence party says the project would violate one of the main principles of the european parliament. they decided that they're going to train in how staff in the run up to the european elections are twenty fourteen train those people to go online to look at facebook twitter and other social media sites and to correct

that's their word not mine to correct any misapprehensions that may exist about the european union and i have to say the fact that it's a parliament that is doing this that is using taxpayers' money to do this says a lot about the institutions that all brought about parliaments is the person is it's him a chair of parliament he's the speaker in westminster he's the chairman in other parliaments around the world but he and all the rest of the staff are supposed to be neutral they're not supposed to take any political position at all and the fact that the parliament decided it's going to spend money time and resources doing this shows you that frankly they're no better than a banana republic and this is all the mcgarvie would do or someone like that so i think many people outside would be shocked by it having worked there myself for thirteen years i'm not surprised at all they are really really scared they're scared that from north to south to east to west all over the european union

citizens are saying we've never voted for this thing to become the united states of europe we've never asked to have the majority of our laws made somewhere else and we want to do something about it so they're scared and they're fighting back. some other news in brief for you right now let's get to those headlines. the leader of hamas says that he's in talks with palestinian president mahmoud abbas about ordering a coalition government khaled mashal mentioned that both parties are getting ready ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections now forced from also have pushed the fatah movement headed by a bus out of the gaza strip back in two thousand and seven sparking a conflict between the two sides. wildfires in australia are making their way across the south of tasmania while emergency services are bracing for worsening weather conditions authorities have called on some locals to move from inaccessible

areas into the danger has passed now this latest wave of fires comes right after a bushfire had destroyed nearly two hundred properties that took place last month. as syria's capital damascus has witnessed some of its most intense clashes in the months rebels clashed with government forces in an attempt to seize control of key approaches to the city center now the fighting came despite an earlier offer by the opposition leader. to negotiate with president also a deputy the regime could also be willing to talk that's according to its ally iran foreign minister was quoted at the egypt sponsored islamic summit however there are splits within the opposition that makes debility a likely even if they do bring down assad so says syria tribune editor in chief ali mohamed. it's just i mean it's just like the rules of the lines written the song will be nicer ones different than it is now and it's not really going to be

actually going for victims in detroit even when the u.s. . moves with a lot of. the movie going to. be because you you dream. leave that they can control the who talk to the fleet releasing the knowledge meaning and the most important part is that these are the princes and they are when you created people they are not full of issues they are not fighters for freedom they are just work princes and the coalition will only be able to do what its founder and i mean finally think the. entity we asked them to do and if they don't do that they will lose the financing of the support so they have to do this and simply don't know how to hold and they cannot because they are not united and they don't have to see him if he was there it's a big mess. well iran has extended a helping hand to egypt offering

a loan to the cash strapped country and also plans to invest more in sudan now all this despite the fact that tehran itself is subject to severe economic sanctions imposed by the u.s. and the e.u. over its nuclear program now earlier economist and commentator kyung lah clottey told r.t. that egypt had no choice but to us up to help from iran but i think egypt has has made it quite clear that it wants to go its own way. but the muslim brotherhood has come to the realize. with a cunt. as important as powerful as iran in the region. there will have to be give and take and should they decide to such a confident confrontational cause with iran. it would prove counterproductive if egypt is in dire straits and it will require assistance from any number of muslim

countries to to get back on its feet again. well in thirty five minutes sean thomas will be here with you to deliver more news taking you through that max and stacey will look into how they believe wall street could lead the world into another financial meltdown say with our teeth. wealthy british style.

market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with my next concert no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our. welcome to the kaiser report imax kaiser i told you to get out of bonds i told you to get

out of sterling and now the stricken tomatoes on wall street are agreeing with me yeah the bond apocalypse which is by the way a term that i now claim ownership. u.b.s. tells clients to get ready for the bond pocalypse u.b.s. is planning a mass mailing to many of its brokerage clients alerting them that they have been reclassified as aggressive investors following a recent change in its market outlook that some people inside the firm say reflects a growing bearishness in the bond market particularly over the long term so max yeah why are they reclassifying clients as aggressive if you were a client or if you were the broker sending out this letter what is going on here right well when you open an account at a brokerage firm a term of the laws of going back to thirty three and thirty four the know your customer rules you have to fill out what the profile of the customer is whether their conservator.